Chapter 1 of A hard life
by Jake Wolf
Summary: This sets the tone of our story, introduces a few main characters that aren't from the series, and explains how some of the characters get to the  school where the story truly takes place.


A Hard Life, A broken soul, and a chance at Redemption  
>A naruto Fanfic<p>

Legalities: All the characters except those directly related to the series or stated otherwise are mine. The story is mine, and the world it takes place in is also mine. With that out of the way this story contains mature material including Yaoi, Yuri, and other adult themes. Some of the themes may offend people, and if such is the case, too bad. With that out of the way I guess it's time to get on with the story, so ONWARD!

Chapter 1: Cold as Ice, Hard as Stone, what could make a heart this way?

I woke up in a cold sweat and ran a hand through my sandy blonde hair feeling like I'd been hit by a truck. I slowly rolled out of bed and landed on all fours then stood up and stretched. I walked over to my dresser and started rummaging around for a shirt and pair of jeans that were still in good enough condition to count as pants. I blinked as I realized my bastard of an older brother must have gotten rid of my clothes, yet again, meaning I had to fucking spend my paycheck on a new wardrobe. I sighed and pulled on the only pair of jeans I could find which were covered in patches, then pulled on my ripped up black t shirt and walked to the bathroom to shave. I blinked at my reflection as I turned on the light. I was only seventeen but my face looked like it belonged on someone at least ten years older than me. My eyes, which changed colors but were usually blue or gold, were as cold as always and I could see all my scars in stark detail thanks to how bright the light was.

I blinked as I realized that I had a new scar over my eye from the fight I'd been in yesterday and cursed softly then lathered up my face and shaved off my five o' clock shadow. I sighed softly and popped my shoulder then studied my face looking to see how much of the hardships I'd faced throughout my seventeen years of life showed on it. There were was a cut on my right cheek shaped like a W, and on my left there was one that looked like a sideways cross. I sighed and continued studying my face noticing that my eyes were slightly sunken in from not getting much sleep, my cheek bones were more defined than usual due to having to be careful on what I bought food wise, and my scars set off my features a little bit, making them seem almost as if they were those of some sort of actor or something. I snorted and glanced at my hair which was a mess then looked at the rest of me, since it was a full length mirror on the bathroom wall, that my brother thought would be a good idea.

I sighed cursing the vain bastard and all the money he'd spent on skin and hair care products then quickly scrubbed my face with rubbing alcohol and walked back into my room. I grabbed my bag off my door handle and started to open it when my asshole brother burst into my room and slammed me against the wall. I blinked realizing he reeked of fucking meth, which mean t he'd been in the basement and he asked me "Where you going squirt?" I glared at him over the hand that was slowly choking off my air and managed to gasp out "I've got class in ten minutes." He dropped me and said "Fuck, well I won't be home after ten so you'll have the place to yourself. That means clean it, Jason will be over to look at your work around six, so you better be ready for a beating if you don't."

I sighed and nodded then started for the front door wondering what the fuck made such an egotistical, vain, superficial ass could be related to me. We only had the vaguest resemblance to each other. We were both blonde haired, but where mine was a dirty blonde, his was a light platinum blonde. My hair tended to be a mess, his tended to be nice and neat without him trying. I was tall and lean, he was average and showed his muscle without trying, my eyes had started out as grey and changed while, his had started, and remained, blue. Even our attitudes were different. I didn't really enjoy being around people, while he couldn't be happy without a large crowd. I liked reading; he hated it and preferred to spend his time talking with random girls. I tended to stay home; he never wanted to be in the house. All this culminated into resentment between the two of us, so that when our parents died and I was only ten he started to take his anger and irritation out on me.

He started blaming me for everything that went wrong in his life, and it only got worse when he started hanging out with Jason and his goons. Jason was a seven foot tall Bull anthro, which are animals that walk on their hind legs, talk like, and act like humans. Jason's coat was white, but not a nice white; it was the kind of white that made you think of a decaying corpse. His horns were wickedly sharp and had markings on them that were from back in the tribal days. He always wore gloves that were pitch black and had no fingers. He also had red tribal tattoos on his arms and legs, making me think that he was just one evil dude.

Jason's second in command was a neko, or human with animal traits. His name was Daren and he was a Doberman neko. He had black and brown pointed ears with a black tail. Like Jason he had a tribal tattoo, but it was on his face and went over his left eye. He was the one who introduced my brother to the drugs and I hated him for it. He was about five foot six, maybe five foot seven which put him a few inches shorter than my brother who was only five foot nine. Daren always wore large clothes that hid the many marks from him being beaten by Jason and cutting himself, but I'd ended up seeing his wounds one day when my idiot older brother made me watch out for the bastard when he'd been injured during one of their many fights.

I quickly shook my head to clear it of thoughts about my brother and his buddies as I walked toward school. However with each step I went back over the many scars Jason, my brother Damien, and Daren had given me over the last seven years. With each step I felt the sting of each blade they'd stabbed into me, the bite of the occasional whip lash from Jason, and the piercing of the damn bull's horns into my arm. I blinked as I suddenly heard someone cough and glanced to my left only to see a guy wearing a strange headband with a leaf symbol on it studying me. He looked me in the eyes and asked softly "What could make one as young as you so cold and hard on the inside?" I blinked and instead of telling him fuck off like I wanted my mouth responded "Losing everything that a person cares about, and then being treated as a slave for years." The figure nodded slowly and vanished into the trees without a word.

I blinked and wondered if I imagined it then shook my head and started running for class, however after two or three steps one of the scars on my left leg caused the muscles to lock up as it was pulled wrong and I fell down to all fours. I glanced back at my leg and swore at Jason wishing I knew a way to get back at him then slowly got to my feet and limped to the school. I winced as I walked through the front doors, my leg not wanting to operate normally, and nearly collapsed as I jogged over to my locker. I slipped it open and shoved my bag inside. I grabbed my math and literature books, and slowly walked to Prof's class. Prof as I thought of him was Professor Wilson the literature teacher at the school. He specialized in Japanese mythology so I constantly asked him about things like the nine-tailed fox, the cursed sword, and all that. The two of us got along, but I usually sat at the back of the class because it kept me out of trouble. He nodded at me as I walked in then went back to writing on the board like I didn't exist.

I smiled in thanks and slipped to the back of the room, happy that prof always seemed to understand when I was having a horrible day. As I sat at the back one of Jason's younger goons Justin started stabbing me with his pocket knife under the desk. I glared at him and got ready to lunge when Prof suddenly said "Justin I want you to bring me your knife, and I'll see you after school for detention. Also class some of you will be called out during this period. Don't ask me why, I just know it has to do with a transfer program involving a country that's far away. I will be overseeing those who choose to go and making the arrangements for our transportation. My replacement will be one of the teachers from the other school, who will be leaving as soon as the faculty manages to find someone to replace me. So when you're name is called over the intercom please go speak with the principal." I sighed softly and closed my eyes thinking _"Well there went my chances for this trip. The principal and I hate each other. I bet the bastard would tell me know the moment I walked into his door." _

I glanced up as Prof said "The first three are Mr. Wolf, Miss Vixine, and Mr. Ryan. You will report to the principal's office right away." I sighed and stood up then started for the door before the other two could even get out of their seats. However half way there my muscles cramped up and I fell flat on my face. I silently swore at my brother as I landed on my hands and knees in front of the entire class, which laughed at me. I noticed the two people that Prof had called to go with me weren't laughing, the guy was offering to help me up and the girl asked "You alright?" I nodded and mumbled "Yeah, just have some minor muscle problems." She nodded and watched as the guy helped me to my feet then I proudly strode to the door and held it open for them. She smiled at me as she walked through, but all I could feel was the anger and hatred for my brother and his friends that had fueled me to keep on living the last seven years.

The other two started for the principal's office and I lagged behind them not really wanting to hear the old buzzard call me a waste of space and tell me I couldn't go on the trip because it would besmirch his school or some such bullshit. I blinked as I remembered Prof was in charge of who stayed and who went though, so maybe I had a chance. With that in mind I started to study my two possible travelling companions. The girl was a fox neko, she had auburn hair that went down to her waist, fox ears with auburn fur and black tips, a fox tail with auburn fur and a white tip, and I noticed that like many nekos she had black tipped claws on each of her fingers. I blinked as I realized she was pretty tall for a girl, because I was five foot eleven, and her head was even with my nose putting her at five foot eight to five foot nine. My male companion was a wolf neko with white ears and a white tail. His tail was wagging as if he thought that this trip was going to be really interesting and he seemed a lot more excited than I felt. He was slightly taller than me, so I figured he was about six foot three, and he was slightly more muscled than me. However I knew he wasn't a jock because I'd seen him defending some guys from the jocks several different times.

I blinked as they both stopped and realized we were at the principal's office. I sighed softly and knocked on the door as the other two seemed a bit worried about doing so. A soft voice, probably the secretary, said "Come in." I pushed open the door and boldly strode inside figuring that if they were going to tell me know, at least they'd do it after I had entered with my dignity. Sadly I fell flat on my face after the first step, because my right Achilles tendon locked up and sent me sprawling. A pair of soft hands pulled me to my feet and the soft voice from before asked "Are you alright?" I nodded and said "Yeah, my muscles just occasionally lock up on me." I slowly looked up from the floor into a masked face that seemed to be studying me. The mask was that of a cat, but I could see a pair of dog ears peaking over the top of it.

I had to resist the urge to reach up and pet them gently as the woman sighed and said "So they sent us a cripple? Why would they think you would even stand a chance at our village?" I jerked my arm out of her grasp and rose to my feet then said softly "Just because I've been crippled by my bastard of a brother doesn't mean I can't fight. I'll take you on right now if I have to, to prove that I'm ready for this trip." The girl laughed and said "I'll let your teachers decide that, I'm just the one providing medical care and guard duty for you guys." I nodded slowly then turned away from her to face the principal. Principal Hodaku was a ferret anthro. He had jet black fur that looked like he oiled it every day, beady yellow eyes that seemed to see everything a student did, and a mouth that would make a sailor blanch when he was angry. He studied me carefully and said softly "Wolf what the fuck do you think you're doing messing up my pristine floor with your ugly face?"

I looked him in the eye rather calmly and replied softly "I fell because of my muscle problems sir. If I'm still here after school I'll help the janitor buff your office before I head home." He nodded as if he'd expected that answer then turned toward the fox neko and said "Hello miss Vixine, what brings you to my office? You're an honor roll student, head of the cheerleading squad, and yet you regularly get in trouble for protecting those younger than you." He then turned and looked at the wolf neko and said softly "Ah young Mr. Ryan, I haven't seen you since the day varsity captain Davis was expelled and you were put on suspension. What brings you to my office with Miss Vixine and the illustrious trouble maker Wolf?"

I sighed and tapped on the desk drawing his face to mine and said "You know why we're here Hodaku. We're here to see if we're fit for your god damn transfer program. I don't know why anyone would want to come to this fucking place, but whoever they are, more power to them. I want out, so what the fuck do I have to do to get wherever you're going to send us? Write an essay? Do an equation? Run a mile in the gym? What the fuck do I have to do?" He stared at me and I could tell he was trying not to say something then the wolf neko spoke up. He glanced at me then at the principal and said "He has a point sir, we all came here to sign up for this project, and you wouldn't have called us here if you didn't think we had something that the exchange program could benefit from. I know my classmate's reputation for trouble, but I have a hard time believing such is the case. If he really was the monster the teachers seem to believe him to be, you wouldn't have called him for the program. So what is it we have to do to go?"

Suddenly Miss Vixine said softly "They have a point sir. If we didn't want any part of this I think we'd have told the professor instead of walking all the way to your office. I'm curious why a foreign nation would want students from our school, but more importantly I want to visit their schools and learn what I can from them. I don't know why my classmate's want to leave, but I personally can't pass up a challenge like this." The principal looked back and forth between the three of us then glanced at the masked figure and said "Well Miss Haruno, what do you think?" The masked figure seemed to study us then slipped off her mask and put it on her belt revealing a rather youthful face that was smiling brightly. She had pink hair, and her dog ears had a slight pink tint to the fur around their base despite seeing to be black all the way up. Her tail was also black I noticed as I caught a glimpse of it wagging behind her. I slowly dragged my gaze away from her tail and studied her fully.

She was about the same height as me, had long pink hair that went down her back, was wearing a black outfit that would have blended in with the dark, and didn't make any sound when she moved, had a headband similar to the one I'd seen on the guy, however hers was in her hair so I couldn't really make out the design other than the weird leaf symbol. I noticed that despite the fact her eyes were kind there was a hard edge to them as if she'd seen a lot of people in pain and it had affected her greatly. She saw my studying glance and started studying me in turn seeming to take a greater study of my scars than anything else about me. Finally she looked me in the eyes and asked "Self-inflicted, fighting, or torture?" I started to ask what she meant and she said "What are your wounds." I mumbled softly "Torture, but some are because I fought back." She then turned and studied the other two with knowing eyes that seemed to go over them with a fine toothed comb.

She seemed to find no problems with them then said "I'll ask my commander, but I think he'll say that all three are acceptable. As for the one you call wolf, he'll need to be treated by the medical squadron when we get to my homeland, but that's alright because he'll be able to handle anything we can do to him. The scars will remain, but the actual damage will finally be gone." I grinned as I realized she was saying that all three of us would be going with Prof. Then fell to my knees coughing and hacking as I felt one of my wounds give from all the stress I'd put it under the last few days by getting into fights. A thin stream of blood slipped out from between my lips and I mumbled "I will not die damn it!" The woman grabbed my forehead and I suddenly felt something flowing into me. I blinked as it became easier to breathe and the taste of blood was starting to fade from my mouth.

I glanced at the pink haired woman and noticed she seemed to be struggling then she stopped and said "How hard have you been pushing your body? With your internal injuries you shouldn't even be able to move." I shrugged and said "As hard as I needed to push to survive." She blanched at the coldness in my voice and said softly "No one who's so young should feel so coldly. Maybe Kyuubi and Naruto can teach you the truth of that. Anyway I think it would be best if you three leave right away. I already have another cell, or team of three, that you should know waiting on the plain with my comrades. I'll go back with you, but only because I'll have to tell the medical team just how extensive Mr. Wolf's injuries are." I mumbled softly "Jake." She glanced at me and I said "My name is Jake. Jake Wolf and I have a feeling you're going to hate me before the year is out."

She studied me and said softly "I don't know how right you are on that, but I have a feeling it's going to be pretty accurate. Anyway let's head out to the plane and start for Koroa Village." The vixen neko, the wolf neko, and I all nodded then the three of us followed her out to a jet where she forced us to sit down and strap ourselves in across from a dragon neko, a dog neko, and a human. They nodded to us and the plane slowly took off. I grinned to myself and thought _"I'm finally free of my bastard of a brother. Maybe I can start my own life now. Maybe I can start figuring out what my parents wanted to tell me the night they died, and why they died." _I sighed and slipped into a light doze as the plane flew toward our new destination.


End file.
